Door hinge check and hold open



June 13, 1961 I P. WIDMER 2,987,754

DOOR HINGE CHECK AND HOLD OPEN Filed May 2'7. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 :1Z? H E I 77 I Z5 May /Wm ATTORNEY June 13, 1961 P. WIDMER DOOR HINGECHECK AND HOLD OPEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 27. 1959 IN VEN TOR. @z/Zfl'awer ATTORNEY ,connected end thereof.

United States Patent 2,987,754 DOOR HINGE CHECK AND HOLD OPEN Paul Wider, Detroit, Mich assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit,Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,238

4 Claims. (Cl. 16-142) This invention relates to door hinges and moreparticularly to a door hinge check and hold open.

The hinge check and hold open of this invention is intended primarilyfor use with vehicle body door hinges which include a pair of pivotallyconnected hinge members, one being secured to the vehicle door and theother being secured to the body. In the preferred embodiment of theinvention, the door hinge member is provided with a hardened generallyU-shaped extension at the pivotally Each leg of the extension isprovided with a rounded protuberance engageable with the body hingemember to provide the hinge check in the open position of the door. Eachof the legs is further provided with a shoulder defined by a pair ofoppositely extending angularly related cam surfaces. The body hingemember is provided with a coil torsion spring, the free ends of whichare located in the path of swinging movement of the shoulders of theextension member. The free ends of the spring are normally spaced aparta distance greater than the distance between the shoulders, and, uponswinging movement of the door to open position, one of the cam surfacesof each of the shoulders engages a respective free end of the spring tocam the .ends' together and past the shoulders whereby the endsarelocated on the other of the cam surfaces to thereby bias the door toopen position and hold the protuberances in engagement with the bodyhinge member without rattling.

Thus, this invention provides a door hinge check and hold open which iscomprised of a minimum number of parts and yet provides both a positivecheck and a yieldable hold open for the door in the open positionthereof and further prevents rattling or other objectionable noisewhenthe door is in open position.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved doorhinge check and hold open. Another object of this invention is toprovide an improved door hinge check and hold open for a pair ofpivotally connected hinge members which comprises an extension on one ofthe hinge members engageable with the other hinge member to provide adoor check and which includes a pair of oppositely facing shouldersdefining a fixed throat which is cammingly engageable with a pair ofspring arms on the other hinge member to yieldably hold the door in openposition and hold the protuberances in engagement with the other hingemember.

These and other objects of this invention will be more readily apparentfrom the following specification and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial sectional view of a vehicle body door and pillar,partially broken away, with the door being mounted on the pillar by adoor hinge embodying a hinge check and hold open according to thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a view, partially broken away, taken generally along theplane indicated by the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 and showing the door in openposition;

FIGURE 4 is a View, partially broken away, taken generally along theplane indicated by line 4-4 of FIG- URE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicatedby the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

Referring now particularly to the drawings, a vehicle door includes adoor outer panel 12 and an end wall 14 which are secured together bybending an edge portion 16 of panel 12 over a flange 18 of wall 14, Amale hinge member 20 includes an apertured mounting plate portion 22bolted at 24 to wall 14 and to a reinforcing plate 26 located inwardlyof the wall. Hinge member 20 generally follows the contour of wall 14and the flange 18 thereof and includes an apertured extension flange 28.

The female hinge member 30 is bolted at 32 to a plate 33 and areinforcing channel 34 of body pillar 36 and extends outwardly through asuitably apertured wall 38 of the pillar. Hinge member 30 is pivoted tohinge member 20 by a hinge pin 40 extending through aligned apertures inthe legs of hinge member 30 and the body of hinge member 20.

An extension member 42 includes a flange 44 located in face-to-facerelationship with flange 28 and riveted thereto at 46 in order torigidly mount the extension member on the hinge member 20. By making theextension member separate from the hinge member, the extension membermay be hardened prior to assembly to the hinge member to as to have along and useful life. As can be seen in FIGURES 2 and 5 of the drawings,the extension member is generally U-shaped, with each of the legs 48thereof, being provided with a rounded protuberance 50. Legs 48 arefurther provided with oppositely facing spaced shoulders 52 defining arigid throat, each shoulder being defined by a pair of lead out, lead incam surfaces 54 and 56, respectively, surface 54 having a steeper slopethat surface 56.

As best shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, hinge member 30 is providedwith a generally heart-shaped depression 58 receiving a coil torsionspring 60. An offset cover plate 62 bolted at 64 to hinge member 3%maintains the spring 60 within the depression 58. The free arms 66 ofthe spring normally engage sides 68 of depression 58 so as to limitoutward movement of the arms relative to each other, the spring beingwound up prior to being mounted within the depression. As best shown inFIGURE 5, each of the arms 66 is provided with a free bent end 70.

When door 10 is moved from its closed position, as shown in FIGURE 1, toits open position, as shown in FIGURE 3, the hinge member 20 will swingclockwise relative to the hinge member 30 about the hinge pin 40. Whendoor 10 reaches a nearly open position, the bent ends 70 of spring arms66 will engage the lead in cam surfaces 56 to thereby cam the springarms toward each other as surfaces 56 move relative to the bent ends. Assoon as the bent ends move past the shoulders 52 and on to the camsurfaces 54, the spring arms 66 will tend to move the bent ends 7 0 downthe surfaces 54 and away from shoulders 52 to thereby hold theprotuberances 50 in engagement with the hinge member 30 as shown inFIGURE 3 and thereby provide the positive hinge check and the yieldablehold open. Since the cam surfaces 54 are of a steeper slope than the camsurfaces 56, the spring arms 66 will tightly hold the protuberancesagainst the hinge member 30 without rattling and further will provide ayieldable hold open in order to hold the door 10 in the open positionthereof.

When it is desired to close the door 10, the free edge of the door isgrasped and enough force is applied to the door to move surfaces 54 andshoulders 52 past the bent ends 70 of the spring arms to position thebent ends 70 on cam surfaces 56. Thereafter, very little force need beapplied to the door to move the cam surfaces 56 relative to the bentends 70 since the bent ends tend to move down these surfaces and out ofengagement therewith under the action of the spring arms 66.

Thus, this invention provides an improved door hinge check and holdopen.

I claim:

1. A door hinge check and hold open comprising, a

pair of pivotally connected hinge members movable between open andclosed positions with respect to each other, a generally U-shapedextension on one of said members at the pivotally connected end thereofthe legs of said extension engaging the other of said members uponmovement of said members to open position to provide a hinge check, saidlegs including a pair of oppositely facing lead in cam surfaces and apair of oppositely facing spaced shoulders providing a fixed throat, anda pair of spaced oppositely biased spring arms on the other of saidmembers respective to said surfaces and shoulders and located in thepath of swinging movement of said extension, said cam surfaces beingcammingly engageable with said spring arms upon movement of said hingemembers to the open position thereof to cam said spring arms behind saidshoulders and thereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably holdsaid legs in engagement with said other of said hinge members.

2. A door hinge check and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotallyconnected hinge members movable between open and closed positions Withrespect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of saidmembers at the pivotally connected end thereof, the legs of saidextension engaging the other of said members upon movement of saidmembers to open position to provide a hinge check, said extensionincluding spaced 'pairs of oppositely extending lead in and lead out camsurfaces providing shoulders therebetween defining a fixed throat and apair of spaced biased apart spring arms on the other of said membersrespective to said pairs of surfaces and located in the path of swingingmovement of said extension, said lead in surfaces being camminglyengageable with said spring arms upon movement of said hinge members tothe open position thereof to move said arms together and cam said armsover said shoulders into camming engagement with said lead out surfacesto thereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs inengagement with said other of said hinge members.

3. A door hinge check and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotallyconnected hinge members movable between open and closed positions withrespect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of saidmembers at the pivotally connected end thereof, the legs of saidextension engaging the other of said members upon movement of saidmembers to open position to pro- Vide a hinge check, said legs includingspaced pairs of oppositely facing lead in and lead out cam surfacesdefining spaced shoulders providing a fixed throat, and a coil tors ionspring on the other of said members having a pair of spaced biased apartspring arms respective to said shoulders and located in the path ofswinging movement of said extension, said lead in surfaces beingcammingly engageable with said spring arms upon movement of said hingemembers to the open position thereof to cam said arms together and oversaid shoulders into camming engagement with said lead out surfaces tothereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs inengagement with said other of said hinge members.

4. A 'door hinge check and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotallyconnected hinge members movable between open and closed positions withrespect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of saidmembers at the pivotally connected end thereof, the legs of saidextension engaging the other of said members upon movement of saidmembers to open position to provide a hinge check, said legs includingspaced pairs of oppositely facing lead in and lead out cam surfacesdefining spaced shoulders providing a fixed throat, and a coil torsionspring on the other of said members having a pair of spaced spring armsprovided with bent ends biased apart with respect to each other andrespective to said shoulders, said ends being located in the path ofswinging movement of said legs, said lead in surfaces being camminglyengageable with said bent ends upon movement of said hinge members tothe open position thereof to cam said bent ends together and over saidshoulders into camming engagement with said lead out cam surfaces tothereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs inengagement with said other of said hinge members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 43,670Colburn Aug. 2, 1864 2,133,663 Johnson et al Oct. 18, 1938 2,651,805Laible Sept. 15, 1953 2,712,149 Harms July 5, 1955 2,893,050Hollansworth July 7, 1959

